View other reviews for this product:
Hatsubai « Neat inlays but basically the same as the rest »
Published on 10/23/11 at 14:07Here we have the RG2570Z. The main thing this guitar has going for it is the binding and ghost inlays. Aside from that, this is pretty much the exact same guitar as the RG1570Z that was released. The guitar features a basswood body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets with ghost shark fin inlays, binding, an Edge Zero tremolo, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The fretwork on this guitar was top notch, and that's to be expected from the Prestige factory. I tend to find Ibanez and ESPs to be very consistent when it comes to overall fretwork. It's kind of ironic how 30 years ago everybody hated Japanese products as they were "inferior" to the US counterparts, but today, they destroy the regular production US guitars at a fraction of the cost. The bridge on this is the new Edge Zero tremolo, and it's really a great tremolo once you disable the ZPS system that it has. It also has its own built-in intonation tool which I find to be crazy slick. You can replace the locking studs this has with the LoPro/Edge locking studs for a little bit better tuning stability, but it's only needed for those who use the trem heavily.
SOUNDS
The sound is actually where this guitar features its biggest downfall, and it has NOTHING to do with the woods that are used in this. In fact, these guitars are generally fairly resonant sounding. Basswood obviously isn't for everyone as there are lots of mids and some chopped treble, but it works great for leads. That said, the pickups that this guitar comes with are awful. They're super cheap IBZ pickups made in conjunction with DiMarzio, and I just can't stand them. The regular production DiMarzios just sound way better to me in these guitars than the stock nonsense these come with. Once you swap in something like the Breed set or what have you, this guitar really comes alive.
OVERALL OPINION
Replace the pickups in these guitars. After that, you'll have an awesome playing guitar that's put together nicely and works awesome for leads. The bridge on these models is nothing to be afraid of, and they perform just as well as all the other bridges once you disable that stupid ZPS kind of thing. Buy used if you want to save a good chunk of change.
UTILIZATION
The fretwork on this guitar was top notch, and that's to be expected from the Prestige factory. I tend to find Ibanez and ESPs to be very consistent when it comes to overall fretwork. It's kind of ironic how 30 years ago everybody hated Japanese products as they were "inferior" to the US counterparts, but today, they destroy the regular production US guitars at a fraction of the cost. The bridge on this is the new Edge Zero tremolo, and it's really a great tremolo once you disable the ZPS system that it has. It also has its own built-in intonation tool which I find to be crazy slick. You can replace the locking studs this has with the LoPro/Edge locking studs for a little bit better tuning stability, but it's only needed for those who use the trem heavily.
SOUNDS
The sound is actually where this guitar features its biggest downfall, and it has NOTHING to do with the woods that are used in this. In fact, these guitars are generally fairly resonant sounding. Basswood obviously isn't for everyone as there are lots of mids and some chopped treble, but it works great for leads. That said, the pickups that this guitar comes with are awful. They're super cheap IBZ pickups made in conjunction with DiMarzio, and I just can't stand them. The regular production DiMarzios just sound way better to me in these guitars than the stock nonsense these come with. Once you swap in something like the Breed set or what have you, this guitar really comes alive.
OVERALL OPINION
Replace the pickups in these guitars. After that, you'll have an awesome playing guitar that's put together nicely and works awesome for leads. The bridge on these models is nothing to be afraid of, and they perform just as well as all the other bridges once you disable that stupid ZPS kind of thing. Buy used if you want to save a good chunk of change.